DIY: LED Vanity Mirror Light mod:
I have all of the lights that I have wanted to be changed to LED or HID in my car, but found out that there were zero companies creating a 24 mm fuse type of LED light bulb that would fit in our M's vanity mirror housing. I was pretty adamant about not cutting into the mirror or anything like that, and wanted to keep the integrity of the car...so my thought was, if I could make a LED bulb that I could take in and out and not have to cut anything, that would be a pretty cool thing that could be done.
This is how I created my own 3 LED vanity mirror light bulb.
What you'll need:
1. (2) 3 LED 5K (or other color of your choosing) Vanity Mirror Bulb from v-leds:
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulb ... 14848.html
2. Solder gun and solder wire/flux (I used the Weller battery operated gun, pictured here:) Side note, A plug-in unit is much easier to use, as you don't need to hold down any buttons for a period of time for it to warm up to operating temperature.
3. Flat, non metal opening device, like a credit card, or in my case, a spatula!
4. Fuses (purchased from Frys). Make sure to use the flat opening device to open vanity mirror lens and take out the old vanity bulb. Use that bulb to find the pack of fuses that are just about the same diameter as the old vanity bulb. The fuses purchased will probably have a little bit bigger diameter than the old vanity blub. Once you have the new blub created, it is still able to go into the mirror light housing just fine.
5. Pliers and something to keep one of the sides gripped well - in this case, I used a power drill.
6. Snips or sharp scissors (Straight snips work well).
7. Scotch tape
8. A hard, flat, solder-friendly object like a ceramic plate.
9. Flat, non metal opening device, like a credit card, or in my case, a spatula!
Let the creation begin!
Use the pliers and your gripping tool (this case it was my power drill) and take apart the glass from the fuse. Make sure you are wearing eye protection or at least cover the fuse with something like a bag while breaking it. Pulling it apart and even twisting the ends of the fuse will make it break.
Take any fuse material out of the ends using your pliers.
Create a front opening for your fuse end using snips. Create a block letter C about the width of your LED board and about half the length of the fuse end, shown by these pictures. You'll need to make 4 of these:
Take your LED blub and take out the glass and LED fuse ends as well, so all that is left is the LED board with lights on it.
Use your snips and cut off approximately 1/8 inch from each side of LED board (don't worry if you cut off more than that - the LEDs will block you from cutting too much).
Use scotch tape to hold down the LED board to a hard, flat, solder friendly object like a ceramic plate.
Slide the fuse end you created into the LED board. Use the solder gun to fill the opening you created from the fuse end with solder wire/flux. Do this to the other side as well. Make sure ends are as straight as possible, which makes installation into the mirror that much easier. (Notice the ends of the LED board that has filled solder wire/flux).
Repeat with second LED bulb and fuse ends you created.
Replace old vanity bulb with newly created LED blub (if it doesn't light up, turn it the other way around). Enjoy the light show!